Swiss village gets half a million amid rockfall threat as some residents resist evacuation
On June 15, 2023, a debris flow nearly reached the village. Now, another 1.2 million cubic metres of rock debris threatens to slide down.
Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Swiss village gets half a million amid rockfall threat as some residents resist evacuation
The government of canton Graubünden, in eastern Switzerland, has pledged emergency aid of CHF500,000 ($565,930) to the village of Brienz, which faces the imminent threat of another landslide and must be evacuated. However, some residents have questioned the authorities’ actions.
This content was published on
3 minutes
Keystone-SDA
The canton announced on Tuesday that it is bolstering its support for the municipal leadership and authorities of Albula, following a request from the municipality.
Due to the imminent threat of another landslide, residents of the village of Brienz will likely need to evacuate their homes by Sunday noon for several months. “In light of the upcoming evacuation, the government has decided to provide additional emergency aid amounting to CHF500,000,” the statement said. This contribution is intended to help cover uncovered moving and rental costs, among other things. The distribution will be decided by the municipality of Albula in coordination with the donation commission.
More
More
The deadliest landslides in Swiss history
This content was published on
A photo essay looking at some of the biggest landslide disasters in Swiss history.
Around 80 residents of Brienz had to leave their homes in May 2023 due to significant movement of debris and rocks above the village. Authorities feared a major rockfall or debris flow that could have swept away the entire village.
The debris flow finally occurred on the night of June 16, 2023. Massive amounts of rock cascaded down the slope, burying a road and meadows under metres of debris, stopping just a few metres short of the village.
The mood among Brienz residents affected by the evacuation is tense, with some questioning the authorities’ actions on Tuesday evening.
“We’re not leaving a third time,” said one resident in front of the authorities in Tiefencastel, in canton Graubünden. By saying this, he questioned the decision to evacuate the village by Sunday noon due to the threat of a rockslide.
“You’re not leaving for us, you’re leaving for yourselves,” the authorities responded, emphasising that the decision was made with the well-being of the affected residents in mind.
More
More
Brienz rockslide threat and life in exile
This content was published on
Residents of rockslide-threatened Brienz/Brinzauls have been fetching items from their homes to make their lives in exile more bearable.
“It’s simply too dangerous to stay in the village,” said geologist Stefan Schneider. With a change in the weather expected next week, the evacuation cannot be delayed any longer.
Translated from German by DeepL/sp
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
What factors should be taken into account when inheriting Swiss citizenship abroad?
Should there be a limit to the passing on of Swiss citizenship? Or is the current practice too strict and it should still be possible to register after the age of 25?
Switzerland wants to spend CHF47 million on armed drones
This content was published on
The Swiss authorities are keen to buy long-distance combat drones as soon as possible, according to a Sunday newspaper report.
Trump tariffs: ‘I’m a bit perplexed’, says former US ambassador to Switzerland
This content was published on
The former US ambassador to Switzerland, Edward McMullen, says he is optimistic for the Alpine country with regard to the 31% tariff on imports imposed by US President Donald Trump.
Swiss Federal Court upholds Beny Steinmetz’s bribery conviction
This content was published on
Switzerland's highest court has upheld the conviction of French-Israeli mining magnate Beny Steinmetz for bribery of foreign public officials.
This content was published on
The Trump administration has imposed a 31% tariff on imports from Switzerland. Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter has warned against "giving in to alarmism" in an interview published on Saturday,
This content was published on
Scientists have shown that bonobos combine their calls into complex sound sequences that resemble combinations of human words.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.